Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to order management systems and, more specifically, to an approach for order resolution.
Description of the Related Art
A modern business, such as a restaurant chain, oftentimes provides customers with an option to order food, merchandise or services online and then pick up the items or redeem the services from a particular establishment location. Online ordering is typically managed by a single website capable of receiving and processing orders for each establishment of the chain. Before placing the order, the customer selects the location of the particular establishment where the order should be fulfilled and the time to pick up the order. When the order is received by the website, the website passes the order along to the selected establishment location. The selected establishment receives the order, various items associated with the order are prepared or procured, services are reserved, and the order is fulfilled upon the customer's arrival at the establishment.
However, from the perspective of the customer, the above approach is inconvenient because the customer is required to select the establishment and time where and when order pickup or redemption is to occur prior to submitting the order, may need to specify a pickup/redemption time, and may not be provided an opportunity to easily adjust either the time or location of the pickup/redemption. Such a requirement precludes the customer from picking up or redeeming the order from an alternative location if such a need were to arise. For example, if the customer placed the order for pickup at a specific restaurant location, then encountered large crowds at that location or needed to travel to a different location, the customer could not simply proceed to a less crowded or different restaurant location to pick up his/her order. Such inflexibility greatly reduces the convenience of online ordering for customers. Further, the inconvenience of conventional online ordering is exacerbated when a customer attempts to order while in transit (i.e. from a mobile device). In such a situation, the customer may be unaware of which establishment location is closest to their present location or along their route, and, thus, may have difficulty selecting an establishment where pickup/redemption is to occur.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a more flexible approach for fulfilling orders that are placed online.